I'm furious about the way we're being led towards socialism. I have come to believe (not just wonder) that Obama's plan is to destroy America from within.

In the new interview, she is critical of those who judged her for her participation:

No country can provide all things for all citizens. There comes a point where it just isn't possible, and it's proven to be a failure everywhere it's been tried. I am not oblivious to the plight of the poor, but I don't see any reason/sense to the idea that everyone has to have everything, especially when the economy is so bad. I see that philosophy as merely a ploy to control.

Today it was announced that there would be no cost of living increase for Social Security recipients because "there's no inflation." I'd love to know what makes them think that! Where the hell do they shop? Prices have been rising for over a year. Inflation is a natural happening, I know. But why is it that suddenly food prices don't go up two or three or five cents, but instead they're going up 40, 50, 60 cents at a clip? No inflation my ass!

[Democrats say that tea partiers are] all racists, they're all religious nuts, they're all uninformed, they're all stupid, they want no taxes at all and no regulations whatsoever. I'm stunned that so many people who call themselves liberal yet are completely intolerant. I thought liberals loved everyone: the poor, the immigrant, the gays, the handicapped, the minorities, dogs, cats, all eye colors, all hair colors! Peace, love, bull! Curious they have no tolerance whatsoever for anyone who doesn't think exactly as they do. You disagree and you're immediately called a fool, a Nazi, a racist.

I agree, but my automatic internal reply to this is that I'm glad we have people like this girl in the US. Same goes for the stupidly radical liberals. I'm glad we have them. Not because they are smart or right about this right now, but because I know they'll be there in case they ever are right.

This is the same reason I'm glad there are nuts about alien conspiracies and whatnot. They aren't hurting anyone, and who the fuck knows, one day they might be right about something.

I would love to hear a self branded tea bagger define socialism for me. I think that they don't really understand what it means.

It certainly isn't what is going on in this country.

And another thing. The original tea party was a protest against the company that was importing the tea into the USA not against government.
I don't see any of these tea baggers getting angry at the corporate take over of America. They just seem anger at our latest figure head president. Stupid

listen up, STUPID! obama *is* a socialist. his brand of socialism is to attempt to provide universal health care in that same manner that numerous non-socialist european countries do it. god, get your head out of your ass.

Even if establishing a new federal public service would magically change our system to pure socialism, Obama sold out and dropped the single-payer option in backroom negotiations before the "Obamacare" debate even started.

Righties who think Obama is a socialist are almost as dumb as lefties who think he's significantly better than Bush.

The "universal health care" thing got me. It's profoundly depressing how many people to the left AND right still fervently believe Obama is fighting for single-payer coverage. Guy has completely sold out at every turn. How the fuck can a truly massive handout to insurance conglomerates be considered socialism? Because Americans are fucking stupid...

There are right-wing libertarians in the Tea Party that do favor completely abolishing Social Security, but most of them have a higher view of Social Security than, for instance, TANF, welfare for poor people, public schools (see: the Tea Party and Obama-supported recent movement to blame all education problems not on segregation but on "bad teachers", lack of charter schools, and unions) single-payer or public options, etc.

Why? Because social security goes to everyone who is old, including old white people. While whites use other public services as well, most social welfare programs are stereotyped as being used/abused primarily by mythical Black "welfare queens." Even if most Tea Partiers don't have personal antipathy towards people of color (although certainly some do), their policies are so heavily racially coded, not to mention a decrease in public spending and social welfare programs will create a de facto Jim Crow for poor folks, especially communities of color.

do tea partiers honestly think that obama is sitting around going "how can i destory america?"? is he some kind of saturday-morning supervillian who obtained the presidency for the express purpose of destroying the country "from within"? i don't think people even think about the ridiculous shit that comes out of their mouths.

this will, however, do nothing to hurt my undying love for the velvet underground.

That's awesome!, Not her beliefs per say, but the simple fact that it takes a lot of guts to be in the punk movement and not be liberal.
Just the comments on this page are showing that the scene does not allow difference of opinions. Punk is all about non conformity, as long as you conform to what punk is "about."

conservapunks unite for fascism! i suspect michelle bachmann is a big fan of the first couple MC5 records, no?

All joking aside, in essence, what you're saying seems to be that it's ok for punks to be politically vocal during hard-right turns, but, ideologically, it doesn't make sense for punks to cry foul at a 'hard-left' political climate?

Oh it's definitely about the affiliation. Stupid too, but yeah, the reaction on here isn't about that as much as the politics behind it. And yeah about your second sentence, it's not like I expect open mindedness and a willingness to consider opposing opinions on this forum.

What about when bands like Anti-Flag make stupid sloganeering political messages and people make fun of them? I've seen bands and people from both sides of the political spectrum take shit on here. Dumb is dumb man.

I completely agree that people on here don't tolerate stupid comments and all that. I just meant that it seemed clear to me that the comments on here about this girl's comments were more about the ideology than the stupidity. I did note that stupidity was apart of it too. My comment was in reply to yours which downplayed the ideology. I was just trying to say I think ideology played more of a role than you were giving it credit for.

The lack of consideration given to her message by this scene or whatever has nothing to do with "punk" and being close minded as much as it has to do with her and most tea party members accusing all those who disagree as being uninformed when they are obviously the ones who are typically uninformed

We had a bunch of tea party people storm my campus the other day trying to recruit people into the "young republicans club" i think the name was. It was pretty fun to watch them give speeches. They're silly.

Why is she so stupid about the student loan program issue? The gov't is giving student loans. As it was before, those funds were funneled through private middlemen who merely disbursed them to university students. If we can cut out that useless middleman, we don't have to pay them just to hand out checks to college kids. That's what we were doing before. It was one of the most blatant cases of corporate welfare.

Also, I appreciate and agree with some of what she says, but I don't understand why she thinks the Tea Party is the proper platform upon which to articulate these ideas, since by doing so they become inextricably linked with that (bowel) movement's worst, most tainted elements.

on grid, off grid.
i just don't care.
what keeps me "off the grid?"
not being on facebook?
what keeps me on?
my Petco "Pals" card?

i just feel removed from it all & don't care anymore. voting has clearly gotten me nowhere as an individual, so, why waste my time on earth worrying about how I'm (not really) going to make a difference in the world & just live my life. I'll make my own differences.

Why not just vote for local referenda and such while ignoring political offices? Not voting for politicians can be a useful statement as a vote of no confidence. If nobody votes, the results lack legitimacy. Our phony democracy is set up to make voting FOR a candidate the only way of voting AGAINST another one; so fuck 'em, if neither is to my liking, I don't vote at all.

If participation is under a certain threshhold, it should trigger a recall with new candidates. Or there should be a "none of the above" option that does the same.

Seemingly everywhere else on the planet, boycotting polls is seen as legitimate means of protest, and in many cases whole regimes have been toppled because of no-confidence votes by the public. The only thing affecting its usefulness in the states is the fact everyone is set in their ways and profoundly ignorant about the whole political process.

But yeah, not particularly useful to not vote, but in most cases I run into, both of the two evils are so goddamn evil I don't vote for anybody. Representative democracy is wack. I do however vote for amendments, referenda, etc. Floridians: YES on 4 and 5/6!

To intentionally not vote and then claim that the election's results are tainted is as futile as losing a football game and then saying you weren't trying anyway. Work within the boundaries of the system if you want to change it.

Umm, why would I decry election results when I don't care which asshole is elected? You can work within the system (and in fact that's what I spend my professional and academic lives doing) without buying into every representative democracy scam floated your way. In many elections, detracting legitimacy by not voting is preferable to voting for someone you don't WANT in office. You're talking like this is a single-party authoritarian state. Oh wait...

I'm just speaking for myself.
I don't give a flying fuck about it anymore.
I feel removed from "normal" society. For the most part, i have to function to some extent, naturally..
but for me, just no point.
waste of time.
If i was some schlep that ran home after work to watch Glee, or some other shit that i DV-R'd, then I'd worry, but I'm not. I can live my life as an individual unaffected by politics.

Socialism exists all over America. Interstate highways, public roads, fire and police, public schools, i could go on and on.
And no there is nothing wrong with it. Somethings are for the public good. The commons if you will.

Socialist is just an epithet that ignorant people throw around as a slur.

Ahh, Maureen... has your vision become so blurred in your old age that you have lost all clarity? Why is the economy fucked, dear old Maureen? I need to know where your wonderful insights are coming from. Tell me your sources... I need the FACTS. Who is trying to control who? Are the IMF socialists too, Maureen? Who the fuck is in charge here? Is Castro issuing orders to Obama? Is Obama a MUSLIM who is out to DOOM us all? Who are these Socialists? Is Trotsky still alive and running riot in the White House? Are these fuckers going to kill us all with their crazed ideas about free healthcare and equality? What is your alternative, Maureen? Should we hand all power over to Capitol Hill and let them run the country as they please? Should we let the free market loose, for good or ill? Put Sarah Palin in office, perhaps?

I'm working for a democratic candidate who happens to be running against a tea-bagger, and it is unbelievable how many calls we get a day from republicans and democrats alike who try to give me a lesson on how obama is ruining america. extremists on either side are ignorant and never listen to the other side. tea baggers are the worst though and i have found that they are the most intolerant of all

This thread is buried now, so you probably won't see this, but Democrats (as useless as they are at foreign policy) are 1,000,000 times better for U.S. domestic policy in most cases. Third party candidates are rarely if ever viable, so working for a Democrat with his / her head screwed on is a lot more likely to accomplish something (i.e. pragmatic) in the U.S. than handing out leaflets for the Green Party, Communist Party, et al.

Is she the spokesperson for the tea party? if so they are in trouble. she might be just as good as palin.
but i think she is talking a little about universal healthcare- i dont know, her statement is incomplete but if the "everyone should have everything" is about healthcare then here is my 2 cents:
Universal healthcare is a great idea- it will be very hard to implement considering we are in a giant mount of national dept. but my kids/family will have a better life (with free healthcare). right now i get so much money taken out of my paycheck for health insurance, and then i still get billed for other shit when i go see the dr- at the hospital that i work at- (and dont forget dental) that has to suck for someone making shit wages, its impossible. (prolly why people are almost dead before they come in anymore) so (my plan) increase my taxes, take out the medical coverage i fork out (on each paycheck) it should come out even. then i wouldnt have the other shit bills from dr visits. but will it happen in the US? no way- GREED from insurance companies to pharma companies to politicians to even physicians. those people make up about 1-2% of our population, but what they do is pay the media to keep the 98% of us fucking retarded!!!
i know i said raise taxes, but listen- if the government pays for hospitals and their staff, pays for everyones medical bills and scripts- we will all be happy when we are in need of treatment, and we dont have to worry about pre existing conditions, and all the bs insurance co put us through. we wouldnt hesitate before getting tx, no worries when your sick, imagine that just concentrating on getting better. healthy people bitching makes me sick. although it is a scary thought to raise (federal) taxes.
maureen must be wealthy or is fortunate not to have diabetes like me (it sucks i gotta tell ya), she might change her mind if she had outstanding bills. i could go on forever about healthcare- im a patient, a healthcare provider and a bill paying motherfucker.
so she can suck on my gatorface!!! "social security dont sound secure to me" anyone my age should already know not to bank on SS
Her statement is as bad as my grammar and my run on sentences
i wanna spit on the ceo of the hospital that i work at, then move to canada
physicians should be paid by how good they are at their jobs
im not morbidly obese
whats up with everyone saying THIS
cant wait for icons
thanks for listening to me bitch *sometimes i actually like the internet*

GURH!
"Anyone who thinks I'm crazy about Sarah Palin, Bush, etc. has made quite the presumption. I have voted Democrat all my life, until I started listening to what Obama was promising "
AND
"To be honest, I never paid attention to what the hell was going on. My always voting Democrat was the result of that.

"I'm far more of an independent than a conservative or liberal. I don't agree with all of either side, and I think anyone who claims to is either a fool or a damn liar."
AND
"I would never judge someone based on their political views. "

"I'm furious about the way we're being led towards socialism."
"Today it was announced that there would be no cost of living increase for Social Security recipients because "there's no inflation." I'd love to know what makes them think that!"

oh, nice job by punknews to encourage tea party bashing and yet accept sponsorship cash from AMERICAN CROSSROADS, a conservative voting organization. did anyone else get the "stop obama's smear campaign" banner on the side?

i just saw it to. the type of ads they have on these sites are generated due to content on the site, so an update about the tea party has led to it thinking this is a political site and posting that ad. it's very unlikely the editors were aware of or expecting such an ad.

NYT even prints political ads that specifically attack THEM. Last month I was actually sorting my pile of old Nations and saw at least five with full back-cover Fox News ads, which is why I mentioned the above.

i'm sad that people like the late great Tom Bosley (happy days) and barbara billingsley (leave it to beaver/airplane) have to die...and people like this retard get to live. Maureen Tucker if you are reading this or maybe your publicist is and he/she can pass on this little bit of info.......GO KILL YOURSELF. nobody cares what you think or say.

Now THAT is what we call a batshit rant. The most hilarious part is the social security complain. Dude, there is no institution in the US more socialistic than the SSA. Socialism is pretty much in the name, for christ's sake.

Fascism is in the air, not socialism. If the economy completely collapses, this craziness is going to spread like wildfire. Death camps for gays and Muslims, constitutional amendments establishing a state religion and abolishing all non-defense government agencies; those of us not working on neo-Feudalist corporate estates will be bogged down 30 miles outside Tehran by 2025. Can't wait.

I'm English. I get free healthcare. It works well: As a 6th form student, I even get free prescriptions. If I want to, I could go into private healthcare, but my family don't have the money, and the National Health Service works well for us in any case. And my teeth are great, before one of those dudes from the Con-Punk site comes to say that they don't want British teeth (oh how we laughed).

Also, Liberals and left wingers, such as myself, have to stand against what they dislike. It's not intolerance. It's being part of a political grouping. And if we really are stereotyping you all, Maureen, I'm sorry, but you do the same to us, and all people do it to some extent, just look at the British teeth joke, for example. Rascist, zealot, stupid? We get called communists, vegetarians, and intellectuals.

Yeah but that's where the fight originally was supposed to be almost 10 years ago, not Iraq. I hate war, but if we were going to fight one, it was supposed to be there.... not Iraq. Which is what Bush did.

I'd agree if it really were a grassroots movement, but the NPOs and foundations that fund and drive it would make Reagan look like Hugo Chavez were their political and economic goals ever achieved. Dissent is good, but the Tea Party is history's biggest astroturfing campaign.

I'd also agree if you were arguing from the "it's got to get worse before it gets better" standpoint.

I was arguing from the "I'll take a group of nutcases rallying against, what they incorrectly see as, socialism over an imperialist who sends troops to Afghanistan to slaughter people and approves drone attacks in Pakistan" standpoint.

Sure the Tea Party are stupid and lead to self-mutilation but how's about we forget 'em and start fighting the real enemy (aka imperialism, capitalism, modern screamo)...

Your last statment.... more baffling than your 1st post says: Sure the Tea Party are stupid and lead to self-mutilation but how's about we forget 'em and start fighting the real enemy (aka imperialism, capitalism, modern screamo)...

We all know it would be worse under the militaristic right-libertarianism of the Tea Party, though. Currency doesn't impart some static ethical weight like you insinuate. Yeah, you can't easily make value judgments about something that hasn't occurred (yet), but I feel like any informed person should be able to see that fake-populist fascism is way worse than Obama's sleepwalking neoliberal Clinton impersonation. I don't particularly CARE if the Tea Party comes to power, because I think nutty stuff needs to happen before people wake up, but it seems obvious that if Sarah Palin were in office right now we'd be quite a few minutes closer to midnight. Here in the States there's no contest about that, no matter which "side" you're on.

Eh, Obama, Palin, Tea Party, they're not really any better or worse than each other (minus a few barely-important policies). Hell, Obama's not really any better than Bush. And sure, if the Tea Party were to be in power it would be horrible but, as of now, Obama's the one allowing death to fall upon Afghan & Pakistani people, making him the bigger enemy in my book.

PH, you're confused. If you're just looking for controversial statements, ok. The Tea Party ain't what you think it is, for starters. Tucker is right in the negative that its anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-State, anti-thought

Now, what you have to tell me is why the bourgeoisie erects its bastion of power -- the Nation State -- and almost instantly rails against it as "socailistic". Isn't that exactly whats going on here?

If you're saying that the Tea Party is striking a blow agianst Imperialism, c'mon. So's the Taliban.

All I am saying is that, I'd wager, most of the people on here who are getting "offended" by her statements and are being defensive of their liberal beliefs are the same people who would not hesitate to verbally attack you or I for calling Obama a warmonger, imperialist and/or Uncle Tom.

I don't consider the Tea Party to be a real movement or political threat. They are religious nuts, capitalists, confused people who think that they are fighting FOR the working class, the "average American" but really they're fighting FOR the bourgeoisie (as you would say) and the elite. It sucks, it leads to little cuts on my legs and it's nothing but stupid. Ok. Happy? I would never EVER say that they are striking a blow against imperialism, and if it came across that way I didn't mean for it to, but they're irrelevant because right now we've got a man in the white house who has no problem with torture, the slaughter of Arabic people and, yes, imperialism.

So who's the bigger enemy? Who would I rather have in my scope? A bunch of fools parading in the streets about shit they have no real idea about, or the comandante who is currently, at this fissure in time, wreaking havoc and chaos all across the globe (all with the backing of the intelligentsia/not-so-intelligentsia liberal America)?

Hilarious rant though. So many leaps in logic and blatantly fallacious claims. Good stuff. I think she should be interviewed on Glen Beck's show, that would be one hell of a match-up! Tag-team of the decade.

Heck yeah! Solid political analysis from people who did enough drugs to fill a bathtub. I fail to see the connection between "Maureen Tucker was in the Velvet Underground" and "Maureen Tucker is smart, you should listen to her."

now i think i like the velvet underground more.
i kinda thought they were hippies, but if shes against communism, i support her-many people in family suffered under communism regimes -it just as bad as nazi